MINUTES OF BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2007
___________________________________________________________________________
Chairman Mauceri called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in Room 14 at the Town Hall in the presence of members Mr. Veno, Mr. Dardeno, Mr. Harris and the Town Administrator Greg Balukonis. Mr. O’Leary was absent.
#1. CORRESPONDENCE
None at this time.
#2. PUBLIC COMMENT
None at this time.
#4. CABLE LICENSE RENEWAL STATUS
Mr. Dardeno updated the Board regarding the negotiations with Comcast. The Comcast license will expire January 4, 2008 and negotiations are still ongoing. However, the Town must give an answer regarding the Comcast Form 100 within 120 days, ending January 4, 2008 as well. On December 17th, there will be a public hearing, notice will be posted in the paper and Comcast will be notified. At that time, the Advisory Committee will make a recommendation to the Board and the Selectmen will vote on it. Comcast will most likely make a presentation to the Board as well. Currently, Comcast and the Cable Access Committee have not reached an agreement as yet. Today, Comcast called Mr. Dardeno and made an increased offer to be submitted to the Cable Access Committee and
Ruth Kennedy will schedule a meeting. Mr. Dardeno felt the discussion with Comcast today was encouraging and hopefully a contract will be in place on the 17th. If an agreement is not reached, an appeal would need to take place and that would not only be costly, but time consuming as well. If an agreement is reached with Comcast, it is probable that the Cable Access Committee would be ready by the 4th as well.
Mr. Mauceri asked if a motion should be made to advertise and set the public hearing for the 17th of December and the Board agreed.
MR. CHAIRMAN, I MOVE THAT THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN HOLD A PUBLIC HEARING ON DECEMBER 17TH AT 7:10 PM IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CABLE DIVISION LAW REGARDING COMCAST’S FORM 100 TO BE POSTED IN THE TRANSCRIPT FOR TWO CONSECUTIVE WEEKS.
MOTION BY: MR. DARDENO
SECONDED BY: MR. VENO
VOTED: UNANIMOUS (4-0)
#3. CHAPTER 43D UPDATE
Heidi Griffin, the Planning Administrator, gave an update on the approval process and what has been accomplished. She noted the Town was responsible to accomplish certain things within 120 days in order to receive a grant and tomorrow she will provide the 120 day report. She went on to discuss the approval process, regulations and the expenditures. She gave a breakdown of how the grant money of $149,880 was disbursed. The written report included a breakdown of
costs for items such as telephones, a digital copier and other equipment, software purchases,
monies used for installation, training, data conversion and maintenance of equipment and what each department received. She also gave an explanation of how the new equipment would be utilized, and the benefits derived as a result of these purchases, not only to the Town employees, but to the pubic as well.
MR. CHAIRMAN, I VOTE TO:
1. DESIGNATE THE COMMUNITY PLANNING ADMINISTRATOR AS THE PERMIT COORDINATOR AND POINT OF CONTACT FOR THE PURPOSES OF MGL CHAP. 43D.
2. DESIGNATE THE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW TEAM (DRT) TO SERVE AS THE TECHNICAL REVIEW TEAM AS DEFINED IN MGL CHAP. 43D, SEC. 2, WITH THE RESPONSIBILITIES IDENTIFIED IN SEC. 6.
3. DIRECT THAT A SINGLE REPOSITORY FOR ALL LOCAL BYLAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS OF EACH ISSUING AUTHORITY, THE DEVELOPMENT’S GUIDEBOOK, AND ALL APPLICATION FORMS AND CHECKLISTS SHALL BE ESTABLISHED ON THE TOWN’S WEB SITE, WITH A “PRIORITY DEVELOPMENT SITE” LINK FROM THE COMMUNITY PLANNING DEPARTMENT’S HOME PAGE.
MOTION BY: MR. HARRIS
SECONDED BY: MR. DARDENO
VOTED: UNANIMOUS (4-0)
#5. DISCUSSION – SHOW CAUSE HEARING: RT. 28 MOTORS
Mr. Balukonis reviewed the details of the MGL Chapter 140 violation by Rte. 28 Motors. This regulation governs used car licenses, requiring that Class II dealers keep up-to-date books of motor vehicle transactions on site and available for administrative inspection. An inspection conducted by the Police Department discovered that the books were not up-to-date and that the permit issued by the Board limiting the number of cars allowed on site was nearly double that amount. However, the Board must schedule a public hearing before any action can be taken. The issue was discussed and agreed upon that the hearing should be scheduled as soon as possible because of the number of violations. It was decided to bring this up at the December 17th meeting.
MR. CHAIRMAN, I MOVE TO HOLD A SHOW CAUSE HEARING FOR RT. 28 MOTORS, addressStreet173 MAIN STREET ON DECEMBER 17, 2007 AT timeHour19Minute307:30 PM.
MOTION BY: MR. HARRIS
SECONDED BY: MR. DARDENO
VOTED: UNANIMOUS (4-0)
#6. APPOINTMENTS
ENERGY STUDY AD HOC COMMITTEE
MR. CHAIRMAN, I MOVE TO PLACE IN NOMINATION THE FOLLOWING NAMES FOR APPOINTMENT AS MEMBERS TO THE ENERGY STUDY AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR TERMS TO EXPIRE ON DECEMBER 31, 2008:
NOEL KELLY - 33 LELAND ROAD
CARL NELSON – SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
JOHN WELSH – DPW
MOTION BY: MR. HARRIS
SECONDED BY: MR. VENO
VOTED: MR. MAUCERI: AYE (ALL)
MR. DARDENO: AYE (ALL)
MR. HARRIS: AYE (ALL)
MR. VENO: AYE (CARL NELSON AND JOHN WELSH)
NAY (NOEL KELLY)
#7. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
1. A total of 14 Town Department Heads and DPW staff completed NIMS (National Incident Management Systems) training. Each participant will receive an NIMS training certificate after completing an on-line exam.
2. A status report was provided to Mr. Balukonis from Lewis Moretsky on November 19th regarding the ongoing telephone installation at the Fire Station and Town Hall. All services are working at the Fire Station with the exception of two items that are scheduled to be completed on December 6th. The Town Hall service is anticipated to be completed by the cutover date of December 14th. Elderly Affairs and the library are awaiting a quotation of the fiber network and installation of the fiber network, and once a contract is signed, the date can be scheduled to proceed. Hopefully, this should be completed after the first
of the year. All personnel will receive minimal training prior to installation.
3. The State Department of Revenue has yet to approve the new property valuations, which were submitted by the Town four weeks ago. Until the DOR approves the valuations, the Board of Selectmen cannot hold the annual classification hearing and set the Fiscal 2008 tax rate. The Finance Committee anticipates a preliminary approval by Wednesday, after which time the Town must undertake a public disclosure period from November 26-30, with final approval not anticipated until December 7th. Because of this late timeframe, estimated tax bills may have to be used because the actual tax bills won’t be ready for mailing by December 31st,
the statutory deadline imposed by the DOR. However, a law was passed several years ago by the State which allowed bills to be mailed until January 31. The availability of this option has been discussed and, although a lot of Towns would also benefit from this option, this would take special legislation.
4. Interviewing for the consultant positions has been completed. The Subcommittee, which includes myself, Selectman Joe Veno and David Hanlon are interviewing two firms to act as consultants to provide Police Chief and Fire Chief assessment center services in order to permanently fill the two vacant positions. Both firms are within the budgeted $18,000. In the next few days, I will undertake reference checks and give the Board my decision. It is expected that the assessment center will begin after January 1st, filling the Fire Chief position first.
5. This (#5) topic was skipped as #6 pertains to #4, and it was requested to discuss those issues at the same time.
6. The Town will file the necessary requisitions for the two temporary civil service vacancies in the Police Department with the Human Resources Department by the end of this week. These vacancies must be filled prior to filling the permanent Police Chief position.
7. The Town is involved in converting to the MUNIS financial software system with a cutoff date of July 1, 2008. As a companion to that, I have been reviewing a number of proposals to provide us with some additional project oversight for the installation and to ensure that we meet the necessary critical deadlines associated with the project. In my opinion, the Town lacks the expertise to guarantee that we can meet that deadline. This is not as a result of lack of knowledge on the part of the Town, but rather the lack of time. We will work within the exiting funds that we have available.
8. The Town is reminded that the Town Hall Offices will be closed for Thanksgiving on both Thursday and Friday.
9. Final note I will request under item #9 an opportunity to go over two issues with the Board in Executive Session.
10. This item was not commented on at this time, but mentioned under old and new business by Mr. Mauceri.
QUESTIONS:
1. Mr. Dardeno mentioned with regard to the Town Hall closing for Thanksgiving that the warrants will be ready on Tuesday or Wednesday. Mr. Mauceri confirmed they would be ready on Wednesday afternoon, but could not confirm the exact time.
2. Mr. Mauceri asked a question regarding the Council on Aging with regard to the construction/renovation of the offices that were budgeted for $20,000 in October. Mr. Balukonis explained what would be taking place, that this is a priority project and planning to be started in the winter.
3. Mr. Mauceri asked a question regarding Youth Services the plan to close off and make some additional space in Room 10. He had heard the plan had changed and asked what changes had taken place. Mr. Balukonis explained the renovation of Room 10, which would only need minimal construction. This also is a priority.
#8. OLD AND NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Harris commented that the Thanksgiving Day Dinner at the Hillview Country Club was fun. He also thanked Sergeant Clark and wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
Mr. Veno offered the same sentiments regarding the Thanksgiving Day Celebration Dinner. He thanked a number of people for their generous donations and hard work. He also mentioned how fortunate he was to have attended the Veterans Day Dinner and then extended his best wishes to all for a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving.
Mr. Dardeno also concurred with Mr. Veno regarding the Thanksgiving Dinner and how impressed he was. He went on to say that the Veterans Day program was very nice and Mr. Veno did a great job reading the proclamation. He then offered his congratulations to the Volleyball Championship, as well as the Cheerleaders who also won a State championship. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Mr. Mauceri reiterated all the comments mentioned above and missed Mrs. Edie O’Leary who was unable to attend due to illness. He then gave the following list of meetings scheduled.
1. The next meeting will be held on December 3rd at the Middle School regarding another presentation on benchmarking and other issues.
2. Meeting on the December 17th, at which time they would be receiving the budget books.
3. Remind everyone about the meeting on January 5th, Saturday at timeHour8Minute08:00
AM, hearing the budget review of all major departments. Mr. Dardeno said he would not be able to attend until the afternoon.
4. Meeting on January 7th to continue with the budget hearings of the smaller departments.
#9. EXECUTIVE SESSION (8:00 PM)
MR. CHAIRMAN, I MOVE TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE PURPOSES FOR THE PURCHASE, EXCHANGE, TAKING, LEASE OR VALUE OF REAL PROPERTY AND 2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING OR LITIGATION STRATEGY AND FURTHER THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN WILL RETURN TO OPEN SESSION THEREAFTER FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ADJOURNMENT.
MOTION BY: MR. HARRIS
SECONDED BY: MR. VENO
VOTED: MR. MAUCERI: AYE
MR. DARDENO: AYE
MR. HARRIS: AYE
MR. VENO: AYE
9:25 PM The Board returned to open session.
Mr. O’Leary arrived during Executive Session at 8:12 p.m.
Mr. Harris left the Executive Session at 8:50 p.m.
ADJOURN (9:25 PM)
MR. CHAIRMAN, I MOVE TO ADJOURN.
MOTION BY: MR. VENO
SECONDED BY: MR. O’LEARY
VOTED: UNANIMOUS (4-0)
__________________ _________________________________
DATE MR. MICHAEL HARRIS, CLERK
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